Parents are willing to spend a lot of money to protect their children against any potential dangers, but this can be costly. Thankfully, there’s Ginelle Mills’ five-in-one kid’s tool, Cool Wazoo. It’s used as a car shade, changing pad, and a cover for highchairs, swings, and shopping carts. Ginelle scored a deal on Shark Tank with the Queen of QVC, Lori Greiner. As of 2022, Cool Wazoo is worth $1 million.
About the Founder
Ginelle Mills is a resident of Walnut Creek, California. After graduating from Athens High School, she studied for a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration at Ohio University. At the same university, she received a master’s degree in sports administration.
In 1998, she landed her first job as a project director at Frost & Sullivan. Ginelle held the position when she transferred to Cooper Roberts Research. Around this time, Mills also served as a recruiter for a firm called CRGC.
In 2001, she became the global project director at Red Sheriff but spent less than a year at the company. In 2008, she founded a product development firm named Cheerful Child.
Founding the Company
Ginelle is a mother of three, and one day she took her baby daughter to a park swing. However, the heat of the metal swing gave her kid a burn. As a result, Ginelle tried to find a product that would help with this but failed to find any.
The California mom decided to take matters into her own hand with her company, Cheerful Child. While developing the product, she noticed that her bag was filled with too many kid accessories.
Thus, she made a multi-purpose changing pad and baby play mat. Her husband kindly invested $100,000 to get the business off the ground in 2009, and Cool Wazoo earned $20,000 the following year.
Shark Tank Appearance
The startup gained exposure on TV shows like The Doctors and Today Show in 2012. However, it didn’t drive enough revenue to help upgrade manufacturing. With this, she appeared on season 4 of Shark Tank, offering $65,000 in return for a 25% equity stake.
The Sharks were quite anxious and had numerous questions. They were critical because the entrepreneur’s profit margins were too low, and she had inventory issues.
Because of the Shark’s comments, Ginelle got very emotional. When all the Sharks backed out, she continued to pitch her business. This touched Lori Greiner, and the Shark with a heart agreed to invest $65,000 for 25%. Exactly what she was looking for!
After Shark Tank
Unfortunately, the deal with Lori never closed according to Sharktankblog.com. Thankfully, Ginelle got licensing agreements with Babies R Us and Kids 2, Inc. Cool Wazoo isn’t very active on social media but the product is still available to buy on TheCoolWazoo.com, Amazon, and several Toys R Us locations.
Under the umbrella of Cheerful Child, LLC she has released new products such as Blew Bubble and Ginovate. Her latest idea Box Parties is a virtual baby party service and should launch in the next year.
On Amazon, Cool Wazoo has a star rating of 3.7 from 24 customers. These fairly positive reviews explain why the company is still in business today. Ginelle hasn’t released any recent sales figures but the company is estimated to be worth around $1 million.
